Sim Mars (1999, PC)

Sim Mars lost in space?

It's hard to believe as popular as The Sims franchise has become in recent years that Maxis wouldn't have the ability to release an installment of the mega-selling series. But apparently that's what happened with the promising Sim Mars, which aimed to transplant the Sim City series into space. Instead of a quaint suburban neighborhood or bustling metropolis, Sim Mars would take place on the Red Planet. Following a manned mission to Mars, players would engage in colonizing and terraforming (which I didn't actually know was a real word until now) the planet. Thus, Sim Mars would blend the world-building strategy features of previous Sims titles with some respectable Sci-Fi. Following the success of the original Sim City and its sequels (a juicy trailer was included on Sim City 3000), Sim Mars appeared to be destined for success.

Uh, Maxis, we have a problem. In May of 2000, the game developer announced Sim Mars was "on hold" because Maxis didn't have the staff to complete the title. The developer, which had been acquired previously by publishing giant Electronic Arts, said that it planned to move ahead with new titles for The Sims franchise. It must have been a little shocking for Sim City fans to hear that Maxis and EA didn't have enough resources and staff to complete Sim Mars, which is a little like Donald Trump filing for bankruptcy.

But just like EarthBound Zero, Sim City fans refused to let the dream die. Simtropolis.com, an online community of Sims fans, produced a Beta version expansion pack of Sim Mars, which can be downloaded from the site. At this point, it appears the unofficial version is the closest we'll get to the real Sim Mars for the time being. I would have loved to have played this one, if only to be able to say "Get your ass to Mars" and "The reactor makes air!" in Arnold-esque Simlish.